The number of spam and phishing emails along with threatening viruses that are out there can baffle a number of people. What they exist for is to collect money for the people who create them. These hackers want what you have and in order to do so, they will leverage whatever they have to get it, starting with the files on your devices.

These files can include contact details, pictures, personal files as well as your sensitive banking information. With the help of all of these credentials, you give cybercriminals the ammo they need to exploit you. In order for your continued safety, we create reliable reviews of cutting-edge antivirus software with all the information that you need in order to choose whichever one is best for you.

F Secure is one of the oldest IT security brands out there. As far as users are concerned, they are doing all they can to provide as many features as they can for the money that they charge. Personally, this product has to be one of our favorites but more on that, later. Promises made by this particular product are parental controls, total internet security, VPN for multiple devices along with your PCs and smartphones. So before further ado, let’s get into the package and unravel it.

Pricing Plan

Following are the prices offered in each package of F-Secure TOTAL.

You can also choose at the time of the subscription whether or not you want an automatic renewal every time your subscription is ending. We believe that you should opt out if you are a first-time user of this software and then secede in the second month if it’s what you want.

Ease of Installation

Installing and using F Secure is pretty basic. Let us explain it to you in a few easy steps.

First you have to create an online account on the official website of F Secure. This is a mandatory step which means you cannot skip it. You need the following information for this account.

Email address

Name

Password

This will then give you a way to download the installer of the software. You will download a file namely F-Secure-Safe-Network-Installer_[some_numbers].exewhich will be roughly 818 KBs in size. Once you launch the installer, the installation wizard will open and it will automatically use your account details. However, you do get the option to log in from a different F Secure option in this step which seemed to us as a positive step taken by F Secure. It is one step ahead from other antivirus.

The second step is where the installer installs features on your device. Here you will get the option to either opt for or opt out of contributing your security data onto F Secure’s Security Cloud. It is entirely up to you, however, we do recommend that you opt for this as it allows F Secure to better target the threats your computer faces.

After waiting for a few minutes, all of the necessary files are downloaded onto your device. The installation finishes as the flawless interface of F Secure TOTAL launches. But you must keep in mind that it automatically updates itself upon downloading and proceeds to download an additional 289 MBs worth of files.

The only thing left to now do is use the software. Unlike other antivirus softwares, F Secure TOTAL does not require you to reboot your computer, which in our view is a bonus. It can be a bit retraining to have to restart your device, especially if you are in the middle of work as it is.

Malware Protection

Next, we wanted to see exactly how capable this antivirus was at defending our devices against malwares. It was the next logical step after downloading the software. Following were the usual tests we run on all the antivirus softwares we review for our readers.

Browser Test

The first test is where we analyze how well the antivirus behaves when it is put to the browser test. What we decided was that we would run F Secure TOTAL and visit harmful websites on a number of popular browsers that people love to use. Since F Secure TOTAL provides suite scans and relentless protection against what comes in or goes out of your computer, this test was passed with flying colors. Following are the browsers that you can use with F Secure TOTAL.

Google Chrome

Mozilla Firefox

Microsoft Edge

Internet Explorer

Opera

In addition to all of this, F Secure TOTAL also provides you with a browser extension called Browser Protection which gives you continual information about the websites you regularly visit so that you know exactly which ones may pose a possible threat or security breach for your files.

USB Test

Our USB removable devices carry sensitive information but what they also easily carry are viruses and malwares. So in order to test F Secure TOTAL, our second test was to see how well it would fare against a USB full of well-known viruses. This is where things got a little disappointing. Following were the problems that we experienced in this test.

It did not prompt the system that an infected USB was connected.

F Secure didn’t automatically detect the threats.

Out of the 12 viruses that were downloaded onto the infected USB by us, upon manually scanning the USB with software, F Secure TOTAL only managed to find one.

Infected Windows Test

The final test was checking an infected Windows against this software. We infected our computer with many viruses and then installed F Secure TOTAL. After installation, the software took two reboots along with a full computer scan and then disinfected our device of all of the viruses that were in it. This is a marvelous result.

We also ran a few security tests by other independent security organizations. Following were their results.

AV-TEST: 6/6 for protection, 5/6 for performance and 5.5/6 for usability.

AV-Comparatives: Advanced+ Badge for Performance Test and Advance Badge for Malware Protection Test as well as Real World Protection Test.

Firewall Protection

Regardless of the name, the protection provided by F Secure TOTAL is not necessarily total. A firewall module is not included in the software. As a result of this, you have to utilize the firewall your Windows comes with which is Windows Firewall. We ran a few tests with some well-known vulnerability scanners called Nessus and Nmap.

With a private network profile, 9 open ports were found with Nmap whereas Nessus found 7. These scanners also prompted a vulnerability which is known as Etherleak which allows hackers to obtain sensitive files from a computer as long as the user uses the same physical subnet as the hacker himself. Although this issue is not very big, we cannot ignore it.

Security Features

Unlike other antivirus software out there, F Secure TOTAL is a work in progress. It does not have a ton of security features but it is getting there. Following is a list of them that you can utilize for the protection of your devices.

F Secure Freedome

This is an independent app that you have to install separately. You use your own F Secure account to access it. It is a VPN offered by F Secure and is an extension to F Secure TOTAL. Don’t worry, this is all part of your subscription which means you will not be paying extra for it.

Parental Controls

The last thing you want is for your child to infect your computers with harmful links found on several online gaming websites. For that, you need parental controls. And they are offered by F Secure for search engines such as Google and Bing. You can even set usage time for your kids on a daily basis, which makes parenting so much easier. All of this can easily be done from your F Secure account.

Banking Protection

When you visit your bank’s website or you need to shop online where you have to enter your banking details, F Secure TOTAL protects you by blocking online connections that might by trying to access your credentials, all very swiftly.

F Secure KEY

This is a password manager offered by F Secure. The downside is that you have to pay extra for it if you require it. It provides protection for your passwords and add-ons for browsers such as Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

Final Thoughts

F Secure TOTAL provides great protection, but we wouldn’t go so far as to say that it provides the best protection against malware that could be threatening to your devices. It lacks few features that an antivirus, especially one that costs as much as this one does. But the good thing about it is that with every update, F Secure TOTAL incorporates new features for all its users.